Former UFC flyweight Muhammad Mokaev has announced on social media that he received an offer to compete against reigning UFC BJJ bantamweight champion Mikey Musumeci for the promotional title.
“I have been offered to compete against Mikey Mussumeci for the UFC BJJ belt. What do you think guys?”
UFC BJJ recently faced criticism for passing on a potential clash between Musumeci and João Miyao despite both competitors publicly expressing interest in the matchup.
Instead of booking Miyao, UFC BJJ scheduled Musumeci to defend his bantamweight title against Shay Montague at UFC BJJ 5 on February 12, 2026, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
While Montague recently captured both IBJJF No Gi Worlds and No Gi Europeans championships, he lacks the professional profile that would generate widespread attention from the grappling community.
After Musumeci called out Miyao in a video that the Brazilian reposted, Miyao responded enthusiastically and tagged UFC president Dana White declaring “Send me the contract.” That contract never materialized.
Miyao addressed his motivations for unretiring at the ACBJJ 19 press conference in São Paulo.
“Well, the money, honestly, I was offered a lot of money, so I had to say yes.”
UFC BJJ increasingly relies on competitors from Texas and Nevada to reduce travel expenses, taking advantage of the UFC Apex venue.
The Dagestani grappler, who parted ways with the UFC following contract disputes despite an undefeated record in mixed martial arts, would bring significant name recognition to any grappling contest.
Appearing recently on the UFC Weigh In Show with a new beard, Mikey announced plans to abandon the leg-centric approach that previously defined his competition style.
“I have the beard now. I’m growing a beard. I’m from Dagestan now. This year I’m a new Mikey. I want to do more passing and takedowns. So gotta go full Dagestani to do it. Gotta channel that energy, you know.”
The champion revealed that health challenges had affected his earlier promotional appearances.
A cynical view of Mokaev’s announcement is that UFC BJJ may be using him to build up Musumeci against someone clearly out of his depth on leg locks. Early in his career, Mokaev had a famously close call against a relatively unknown Brazilian, getting caught in a kneebar with his knee bent painfully into an arc. He later revealed that he might have tapped if he hadn’t just bought a new car and needed the prize money to cover the payment.
Mokaev survived a kneebar at UFC 286
I’m surprised he is back so soon; watching it live, I thought he had severely damaged his knee.
He faces Tim Elliott at UFC 294 pic.twitter.com/tR1TEE3ACK
— Ocelot MMA (@OcelotMMA) October 18, 2023
Whether UFC BJJ will pursue the potential Mokaev matchup remains uncertain. The promotion has not publicly addressed the claim, and Musumeci is already scheduled to compete against Montague in less than a week.
